what is your ideal place to live?

suburb or major city

should be suburb OF major city

I get allergic smelling hay

Major metro area + on open water. Those are my only criteria.

Mine own island. Definitely. But where that island would be, that is the question. I'm not having any tropical nonsense.

oh i forgot "by the sea" or "beach community"!

own island could be anywhere, but you have to account for the fact that it will be difficult to get supplies there and you will have to plan all of your own plumbing, etc.

also, storms and hurricanes

forest!!!!!

beachfront

IN SPACE.

refrigerator box

I love the country and the wilderness but have little desire to live there.

far far away

from my creditors

Major met or I would go mad.

major met def, but w access to some wilder areas

ideal for me right now would be a few miles out from a small but hip and thriving (half industrial/half tourism) coastal city

Eh? But I was thinking of an eyeot on the River Thames! Hardly uncivilised or difficult to get supplies to!

these days, this question frustrates me b/c i do not know
probably some kind of seaside+forest commune with my own remote geodesic dome but also an apartment in the city, like here or nyc or hm somewhere, if california were really like this then california somewhere

xpost
also space sometimes

ideal for me right now would be a few miles out from a small but hip and thriving (half industrial/half tourism) coastal city

-- blueski, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 5:59 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

this sounds perfect. well minus the "hip" part.

a totally tricked out zeppelin

i would like to be in between the mountains and the sea, ideally 1 hr or less drive from each, for snowboarding in winter and beach hols in summer.

or space.

If we're talking fantasy shit, then Ewok village.

this sounds perfect. well minus the "hip" part.

-- bell_labs, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 6:01 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

but "hip" just means a good record and book store, and good produce.

i guess i'll stick with small city. i should really try living in a big city, but the thought of putting a set of drums in a cab, expensive rehearsal spaces, and terrible traffic isn't that appealing.

Major metropolitan.

;_;

Either major metro or small-town-adjacent-to-wilderness/forest/etc.

I like the fact that on the other side of my wall is outdoors, not another freakin' family.

I'm glad that I can park on my side of the street any time of day, any day of the week.

I do miss public transportation and things to do within walking distance, but I also like pissing in my backyard too.

how big is small city? cos some of your American "cities" are hella small.

the one i currently live in is population 225,000.

I say if your hometown has a building that's over 35 stories tall, it's a city.

nope.

I would have to be major metro or farm/mountain. But I will plump for major metro.

I am laughing at the idea of Celebration FL being utopian and not a ghetto for the paranoid.

my ideal would probably be a small city within driving distance to a large city (sort of like santa barbara to l.a.)

I am laughing at the idea of Celebration FL being utopian and not a ghetto for the paranoid.

ha, what's the difference between a utopia and a "ghetto for the paranoid"??

Jordan, tell me a place with a building over 35 stories that isn't a city.

tell me NOW.

DC has NO buildings over 35 stories and it is a city. *WOAH*

maybe there isn't one, but i do think you can have a city w/out skyscrapers.

xp yeah, or that

but i think PP is right if you go over 35 stories=you just might be a city

also, there is some weird law here about no building being taller than the capitol building!

I didn't say anything about a city not being a city without a tall building.

I am saying that if you've got a 35+ story high-rise or skyscraper in your place of residence, then you're living in a city.

Arlington, Edina, and North Miami Beach included.

I didn't say anything about a city not being a city without a tall building.

ok, i probably read it the other way because i was being lol small-city defensive.

major metro - m. white otm

but one day i could maybe live in a small city within driving/transit distance of major metro

http://arcade.interfazed.net/tron.png

oh wait

stevem wants to live in brighton but wants all the wankers genocided first.

having said that, i suspect most of ilx does, perhaps without knowing it.

I also wouldn't mind living in a place where I could get a direct flight to somewhere besides Dallas every once in awhile.

Right now.. a city. When I am over 40, the country... specifically the Rocky Mtn foothills.

i want to be one of those weird hippies who lives in lyons and raises alpacas.

i don't have a problem with wankers in brighton, i mean there are always going to be a lot more here y'know.

this is true. and i find the brighton kind of wanker far more tolerable than the london kind.

also, there is some weird law here about no building being taller than the capitol building!
not that weird; same law exists in madison, wisconsin. and supposedly in bali, a building can't be taller than a palm tree.

When i said I suspect ilxors want to live in Brighton (right or wrong; overly generalising I'm sure) this is pretty much what i meant:

- a significant artsy creative side to enjoy as audience (gigs, galleries, theatre, comedy etc)
- a significant artsy creative side to participate in
- somewhere small enough to more or less be able to walk everywhere
- nice-ish variety of pubs
- countryside near enough to go for walks and escape hustle/bustle of city life
- water feature (sea/river/lake) for contemplative walks and things

now tell me how utterly naive and RONG i am

those are all clear pros but I think Brighton has been mostly hated on by UK ILX traditionally, and it is over-subscribed compared to Bournemouth (which may also be nicer pound for pound tho further from the capital).

also, there is some weird law here about no building being taller than the capitol building!
not that weird; same law exists in madison, wisconsin. and supposedly in bali, a building can't be taller than a palm tree.

Philadelphia used to have that law that no building could be higher than ol' William Penn.

http://www.free-press.biz/graphics/camping/camper-fire-tent-mountains.jpg

- a significant artsy creative side to enjoy as audience (gigs, galleries, theatre, comedy etc)
- a significant artsy creative side to participate in

I like the idea of separating these points because the two aren't necessary correlative, are they? The perfect place for me would allow me to get on with whatever I'm doing creatively without having to trip over angular-haircuts at every step ... and yet benefit from the proceeds of their cultural capital accumulation.

don't blame the haircut

Near an ocean. (Not necessarily on it, just near it.)

ive never understood the appeal of oceans

all seas are seas of misery

i'm inside nicka's tent smoking a bowl

ive never understood the appeal of oceans

I grew up in a Navy family. Living surrounded by land that goes on forever seems...weird.

New England fishing village, Norther California/Oregon coast

New England fishing village, Norther California/Oregon coast

-- milo z, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 3:49 PM (20 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

is everywhere i've ever been happy.

ned otm about needing to be near water

i prefer a place with a private back yard, as well

I've never lived anywhere without open water around. Maybe it would be fine, but I worry I would claustrofreak? Plus it's so stress-relieving for me.

x-post -- Having gone that route I honestly think I'm fine with a condo or the like. Less stuff to have to worry about.

im the exact opposite of you guys, staring into an endless body of water just depresses me.

dude, we CAME from the sea

Celebration is, if anything, a dystopia of unrivalled scariness.

I grew up in the country and it's shit. Shops miles away, friends miles away, pubs miles away. I'm now city fringe in a 4 million-ish city and could never go back to shit creek ever.

Also, gardens are a pain in the arse.

i want my damn ramshackle farmhouse with a barn full of giant modular synths and i want it now

ledge: i would like to be in between the mountains and the sea
http://calwestray.tripod.com/images/prisoner_village_map.jpg

No, no, that's where the Others live.

i want to be a rich old hippie in san juan capistrano

Biore Forest

http://www.dailyventure.com/400x300/kauai_helicopter_hanalei_06.jpg
i would really not mind living here, at all

http://www.kauai-rent.com/hanalei-weke/hanalei-location/bay-mountain-main.jpg
how rich of a rich old hippie do you think you would have to be to live here? and how do hippies get rich?

NZ, no?

it's hanalei bay in kauai, hawaii

Because WOW.

if there were any job i could do there, i would move.

I've changed my mind about an eyeot in the Thames. London is too crowded, even the river. I want an outer Hebride. Maybe St. Kilda. Or how about a lighthouse? Yes, a lighthouse on a rock in the middle of the sea. Oh yes.

http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/isle-of-mull-hebrides-sco439.jpg

Voila.

Nearly perfect... except I'd have to blow up the bridge to the mainland.

Stick a lighthouse on this:

http://www.westernedge.co.uk/images/bay.jpg

and we're good to go.

mmmm costa rica

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=%22rich+old+hippie%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Lighthouses I would like to live in:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~roaringwaterbay/lighthouse.jpg

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3403167.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=BD2794AE0B3E23AD26F1CF7ECF5290FDA55A1E4F32AD3138

I saw a 1930s silent travel film about St Kilda, I wouldn't live there over the winter for a hundred thousand dollars. Okay, maybe ONE winter. But the money would have to be DAMN good.

Where is "in the gutter" band?

bode miller's house

Brighton has been mostly hated on by UK ILX traditionally

brighton is the most ILX place in the world!

No, we already established that was Crouch End.

(You could not pay *me* enough money to spend a winter in Crouch End!)

my ideal would be a mid-small sized city with 10 month a year skiing/snowboarding mountains close by, forest, and closeish to the ocean. preferably the pacific.

crouch end can eat a dick

whats up with the ugly names, england?

oh! hello , Portland! xxpost to myself

probably a desert by the sea, so Baja maybe?

dubai

i'd like to live in the caverns under tower bridge

living in dubai is what i imagine living on the moon will be like someday

Except with more religion and less pot.

Although if Kim Stanley Robinson is right, we could end up with the religion, too.

a friend of mine has been living in dubai for a while. she does NOT recommend it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

a classmate of mine is from the emirates and knows dubai very well -- she says it's completely nuts and surreal there right now (e.g. dubai has its own disneyland) and they're so growth-crazy that all these international companies who come in are exempt from paying taxes, can pollute all they want, etc.

yeah guys portland is the answer here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubailand

Portland is really great, and were I not addicted to hotter summers and less dark winter nights I'd consider it. It's a marvellous place to live.

i kind of agree but im thinking of portland mainnnnne

i have never been to portland oregon, but it seems like everyone wants to move there

i forgot about those, ive never been to either but the portlands both sound pretty perfect to me in terms of climate at the very least. well maybe not portland maine in the winter.

theres a pretty great george saunders piece on dubai thats worth checking out, that place is nuts

off the grid commune style / major metropolitan style

off the grid major metropolitan seems like it would be awesome but then you realize what that actually means and NO SIRREE

Portland, Oregon is the Brighton of the United States.

brighton looks more like santa monica deserted on a rainy day.

i have never been to santa monica but that sounds like a diss to me.

I just went to Portland, Oregon, for the first time. It's a lovely place and I had a great time but I couldn't live there. It's a tad too small. The layout is too suburban. The winters are too dark. The culture is a bit too homogeonous.

yeah guys portland is the answer here

Certain chance of rain and drum circles. Cannot deal.

I'm going to Portland again today and it will probably reconfirm my desire to live there someday.

that is xactly what i expect of portland, xxp

and heroin addicts and unemployment and fancy coffee shops

so, lots of lines

gabbneb just made me lol with his lol.

there are... patterns in nature

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

what's the opposite of shock?

balls

i am the 1

get a job stinky

poor farm country/desert

dessert

i don't remember how i voted -- i love the "off the grid commune style" option but i have fantasies of being a desert/mountain girl and spending my days trying to sell shitty kokopelli art to uninterested coffee shops.

maybe i want to move to a remote canadian prairie and be buffy sainte-marie

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h271/stckhlmcnd/quiet-places-13.jpg

So "mountains" was gbx and who else?